Canada Immigration Opportunity – A Dream Destination To Live

Before 9/11, the United States of America was considered to be a dream destination for millions around the world, especially for students. However, the aftermath of 9/11 changed the face of international politics along with immigration policies. And now when President Trump has tightened the immigration policy, Canada, in contrast, has loosened restrictions on immigration policy.

In 2016, Canada
announced its foreign
students’ policy which was/is appreciated and encouraged. One of the friendly nations, Canada
is becoming a hub of immigrants;
calling and accepting people across the globe. It is the most generous nation for immigrants and has the
highest per capita admission rate in the world.

By accepting more than 200,000 immigrants yearly, for a
decade, Canada now enjoys a global reputation of an ‘Open Arms’ attitude.

Let’s have a look at the history of Canada Immigration.

Immigration
has always been a shaping factor in society and culture for countries like
Canada. A desire and need for expansion emerged looking at the small population
of the country. In the past, most of the immigrants would settle in the rural and frontier areas but
Canada reconsidered its immigration
policy in early 20th-Century. Canada started to control the inflow of
immigrants and refugees by
adopting new policies that would help in excluding applicants were not European
Ethnic.

However, in 1976,
once again Canada had to redeem its policy by removing the ethnic criteria. By
making this amendment, Canada became a destination for immigrants across the
globe until today.

UN report which was
released in 2006, declared Canada 7th country worldwide among 28 countries
which are hosting 75% of all international
immigrants.

Who can Immigrate to Canada?

Anyone fulfilling the
criteria of immigration
can move to Canada. 200,000 immigrants have been granted a permanent residency by
Canadian Government each year. It yet aims at maintaining a higher or similar
number. Majority of immigrants
are from Asia, particularly China, India and the Philippines. A prominent
number of people also come from Pakistan, Iran, Britain, US and African
countries.

Muslims
immigrants have been warmly welcomed in Canada since 1996. In recent
years, the number of Muslim
Immigrants have significantly increased. The data shows that over
175,000 Muslims have immigrated to Canada from 1996 to 2001.

How Canadian Immigration Policy Works?

Canadian Immigration Policy has been divided into three categories:

1. Economic

2. Family Reunification

3. Refugees

Let’s discuss each in
details.

1. Economic:

A large number of
applicants apply for this category. This category represents a large number of immigrants applying
yearly.

The selection criteria are
purely based on immigration
points. Points are further divided and spread across different
categories.

For Instance:

Level of Education

Job Experience

Age

Language (English and French)

Each category is
assigned with some specific points. For immigrating to Canada, one needs to attain
those points to meet the applicable acceptance criteria.

Talking about the
marketing trend across Canada, it is becoming more IT-based as the
manufacturing sector is declining. This shift is enabling flexibility of
transferable skills over a specific occupation.

2. Family Reunification:

This category was
introduced for those who are already living in Canada and want their families
to join them. After Economic, it is the second-largest group of immigrants moving to
Canada each year.

If your spouse is already working in Canada, his/her presence can ease the immigration process. Similarly, parents can apply for their kids and vice versa.

under this category,
Canada recognizes same-sex couples as well, even if they are not married
legally due to restrictions of the country they are coming from.

3. Refugees:

Refugees
are all dealt with within this category. Though there are many reservations on
this particular policy of Canadian
immigration but nothing absurd has surfaced yet. This category includes
humanitarian resettlement programs and asylum protection.

You can claim your asylum on borders and
airports, once your asylum
claim is accepted, the Canadian government then allot you a permanent residency.

How these Immigrants are Accommodated in
Canada?

Canada provides its immigrants with best facilities like access to language training, national health care and social welfare programs. These facilities help immigrants to settle well in Canada.

But, a few economic
indicators are raising concerns over the skillset of the immigrants entering
into Canada. Economic shift all over the world has changed many things since
the 1990s. It is a technological and digital era. Conventional jobs have their
perks but the technological shift is demanding different skillset.

It is reported that immigrants who had
arrived in the 1990s faced more hurdle in finding a successful career than
those immigrated in 1980s.

Some reports also
show that despite getting educated and professionals in Canada, many struggles
with finding a job that matches their skill level or qualification.

Conference Board of
Canada has estimated that 340,000 approx. immigrants get affected by
underemployment every year. This is costing them $4 billion in lost earnings.

Another issue which
is faced and reported by the Canadian
Immigration Office is that some of the people have a foreign qualification
which is not recognized by Canada.

Canada’s Guest-Worker Program:

Canada has introduced
seasonal worker program.
It is a temporary program that is offered agricultural workers, live-in
caregivers and construction workers. These temporary work programs aimed at
addressing industry-specific labor need. The only glitch of this program is
that labour is less-paid.

Although the
guest-worker program is not intended to lead to permanent immigration of residency but it does not
prohibit temporary workers to apply for permanent residency but often they don’t qualify
due to points criteria
which makes a way for educated workers. Temporary workers lack the required
education and language to live in Canada.

Illegal Immigration to Canada:

Anything that is
illegal is of no use. In fact, it brings more harm than one can think of.
Similarly, illegal
immigration to Canada or any country can put in hot-waters for the rest
of your life.

Reports suggest that
100,000 to 200,000 people are labelled as undocumented immigrants that are living in Canada.
Companies are warned of hiring any undocumented immigrant. They can face
strict action from the authority; fines or even jail.